Thursday, October 25, 2012

A Chinoiserie Girl's Bedroom

I received an email yesterday with photos of this wonderful bedroom one of my followers Holly created for her three year old daughter Zoe with lots of pink and Chinoiserie - my favorites!

"I just wanted to say that I
have LOVED reading your blog and drooling over your photos for the past year.

I had been obsessing about what to do with
my daughter's big girl room… and I always have a problem with needing to do
things my way.

I found so many elements that inspired my
brain when reading your blog. After combing eBay, Etsy, Target,
and Ikea… I'm finally finished.

Thank you for making the
world a prettier place."

I emailed her back asking her to share the details of this darling room. I think it's one of the prettiest girl's rooms I have seen and it was done for under $1,000! Amazing. Here are the details....

"Here's the scoop on my
daughter Zoe's room…

I think I've secretly
wanted a pink bedroom my whole life. And I finally had my chance. My daughter
turned 3 and it was time to get rid of all of the nursery furniture and create
a space that she could grow with. I needed to allow enough room for a bed, dressers
and also a space where her play kitchen and toys could live. I feel like a bad
mom for saying this, but I HATE children's furniture and bedding. Nothing is
sophisticated, and the color palettes clash with the rest of most of my house.
My son's $800 red race car bed is a great live and learn lesson!

The two biggest challenges
for me were to find the pieces that were lurking in my brain but not lurking in
stores, and to transform this room on a budget. My husband was really hoping
that I would tackle ONE decorating project on a budget. I did the whole room
for just under $1000 (if my math is correct).

One more challenge… I'm a
stay at home mom to a 3 year old and 5 year old. And I would be doing this by
myself. Which meant lots of interruptions, but I love that I was able to do it
all.

Thanks again for sharing
your amazing taste and treasures on your blog. I fall in love with something
every time I visit.

The bedding is a
discontinued collection (of course) from Pottery Barn Kids. The pattern
is called Cherry Blossom and I'm so impressed with the quality of the fabric.
It's a wonderful heavy weight cotton canvas. ($180 on eBay for a BRAND NEW set
that included the duvet cover, twin sheet set, and sham)

The dressers are
Malm 3 drawer dressers in white from IKEA. ($160 for both)

And then the O'verlays.
I want to cover every cabinet and drawer front in my home with this product
line. I chose to do the pagoda pattern on the top and bottom drawers and then I
used the lola pattern for the middle drawers. ($107) I debated about painting
the overlays, but decided that I liked the sophistication of the white on
white.

The pink Eiffel tower is
made from paper and it was just a left over decoration from her 1st birthday
party. She is my Bastille Day baby. The other tower and dragon
are from HomeGoods. (approx $15 each)

Bedside lamps
are from Target. Love these so much I also have them in our master
bedroom. (approx $40 each)

Mirrors
are also from Target (approx $30 each)

Paint
color on lower portion of walls is Benjamin Moore Pink Cadillac.
I went through several paint samples getting just the right shade that wasn't
too cotton candy or too bright. This is a very soft pink in person.

And what looks like
wallpaper above is actually painted. I call it my masterpiece! I searched high
and low for the right stencil. One that would look like wallpaper and
have a nod to my love of Chinoiserie. I found one from a company called Stencil
Boss ($37).

It was tricky to work with,
and I consider myself pretty fearless and adept when it comes to most projects.
The corners were a killer and that's why you always see an accent wall
stenciled… NO CORNERS.

Part of her room is still a
work in progress. My daughter is 3 which means she has a lot of stuff. Stuff
that I like to keep contained in a coordinated yet functional way.

This table from IKEA
(Hemnes sofa table $179) is perfect for stashing her books and it holds bins for
her Barbies and other tiny toys that seem to multiply. I added a lamp that I
had been using in our living room. I plan on ordering a series of 3 prints from The Pink Pagoda (LOVE LOVE LOVE her stuff) to frame and hang on that wall above
the table."

Thanks Holly and Zoe for sharing this lovely room. You are a very luck little girl and a very talented Mom.

Such a pretty room. I'm finally getting my pink bedroom! I'm in the process of painting my master bedroom a soft, soft pink (Dogwood by Sherwin Williams). I also plan to use the O'verlays on white Malm dressers as nightstands. I have two Espana chests but they are just too large for the space. Darn.

About Me

I grew up in Europe and Lake Forest, Illinois. After graduating from The Ferry Hall School, Bryn Mawr College, and George Washington University Law School, I practiced law in Washington, D.C. Now I am devoting my time to three of my great passions - interior design, blogging, and Chinoiserie.

Style Redux

Please visit me at my other blog Style Redux-a blog about great style in fashion, interior design, and a bit of everything else. It may be vintage or new, budget or designer. It's all about living a life of style.

Contact me for your next decorating project in person in the Washington, DC metropolitan area
or for online eDecorating anywhere.